Just Swim

Today Ben and I competed in the Bike Source triathlon in Olathe, Kansas (near Kansas City). Of course we had to drive all day Saturday from Colorado to get there. Yeah, we've been driving a lot this weekend. It was a 1/3 of a mile swim, 11 1/2 mile bike, and about a 3 mile run. The water temperature (so they said) was about 70 degrees. Most people used wetsuits (Ben did), but I didn't. It was a tough decision, but a couple things drove my decision to go without the wetsuit. One was my previous experience, nothing against the wetsuit, wasn't stellar. Two, this was the first race I was using clipless pedals and bike shoes on the bike portion, so adding taking off a wetsuit was yet another new thing and I didn't want to get consumed by new things. Third, when Ben and I swam at Pensacola Beach, the water was about 70 degrees and it was ok. Although one person did come up to me and say I was brave, and most people did wear wetsuits, I'm glad I went without. So Ben's wave was first and they were off. My wave started 5 minutes after his. We were told to get into the water so I did. The water felt ok. My goggles were suctioned and then I started to feel my chest tighten and when I went under the water to make sure my goggles were secure, I felt really horrible. The panic from the race before was there. I still had a few minutes before we were supposed to swim so I looked at the course and said "Just swim." I kept repeating it and visualized myself running out of the water after finishing the swim. When they said "go" for just a few seconds I couldn't put my head in the water, but then "Just swim" came back into my head and I did. Not in record time or anything, but I did it. I got through the swim (I was 39 out of 57 of the women at that point). I ran into the transition area, put my bike shoes, sunglasses and helmet on and went for a bike ride. The course was hilly, and my thighs burned on a lot of the race, but I made up time (25 out of 57 for the bike). Again I transitioned and went out for the 3 mile run. My legs felt horrible and I thought a snail could have passed me, but as I got going I started passing people. I ended up being the 14th fastest runner for the women and finished in a little over 1 hour and 19 minutes. Crazy enough that ended up being 2nd place for my age group which was 30-34. Yes, I'm not 30 yet, but in triathlons you are the age that you will be on 31 Dec. Overall I'm happy with my efforts. I'm sad that it will be another year before I get to do another one, but at least I know that I can "just swim" and I will be ok.